The bulk of the jobs, 88 percent, were in the energy efficiency sector, which includes heating, ventilation and air conditioning; lighting; advanced building materials; and Energy Star appliances the report said.

In the case of St. Louis-based solar energy company Microgrid Energy, growth has been tied to state policies and the affordability of solar energy, vice president of business development Steve O’Rourke said. So an HVAC worker might be working on both traditional and clean-energy related projects; ditto for window manufacturers.

Almost 600,000 people in the Midwest are working in the clean energy sector and that number likely will continue to rise, according to advocates for the industry. That sector employs 6,181, or 10.8 percent of total clean energy jobs in Minnesota, the study found. The renewable energy sector expanded the fastest over the past year, growing at 15.7 percent rate.

“I urge the Minnesota Legislature to enact the bipartisan 50 by 30 renewable energy standard that was proposed last session to spur additional job growth in the future”, Smith said.